Red-Greens breaking up: Sahlin

Two strong women cannot live in the same house. I knew it.

most of my friends thinking sweden is going down the drain now..

@miss79. You seem to have very pessimistic friends. Tell you friends to move back and contribute something to Sweden now and not wait till when they are old, retired and mangy;-)

If you like socialism, there is always Cuba for people to move to.

All this news deserves is, possibly, a footnote at the bottom of the page. This entire periferal, extremist, marxist cabal has ceased to be relevant long ago. Sweden resoundingly rejected it on September 19th, and voted for freedom and lower taxes. It is now up to us to ensure that they stay on the sidelines and remain irrelevant. They belong to a long gone era, and anything coming out of their loud mouths is only pathetic and laughable.

This is a coming-out of the closet party for the Social Democrats. They've been right-wing for the past 20 years and this is the big party where they officially get into bed with Reinfeldt and the right. The Green Party and Left Party have been told to pack their bags because they are going to be "a pain" if they keep trying to make Social Demnocrats block Alliance plans to privatise Sweden and destroy the manufacturing industry. Goodbye Social Democracy in Sweden - corporatism and big business now rule. Welcome to Anglo-Saxon style inequality.

Sweden is a West-European country, the Soviet red winds of socialism are over. Communism and Socialmism will simply be a memory for the history books as a failed ideology.

How so many people think it is all right for politicians and government to own every aspect of their life is simply beyond me. Liberty and freedom comes from private ownership. The ability for people to own their own homes, their wages without the government stealing it, the ability to own companies and a free market economy.

Tyranny will always come from the government!

@ Krow #1

Which "strong women" are you thinking about? Surely not Sahlin?

I forecast this weeks ago. Expect the Greens to informally support the Alliance during this government. The Communists will go their own way and the Socialist Party will implode.

The opposition parties will be making all the news until Xmas.

@hpunlimited

So you would rather have Facism instead? When corporations and bankers own the country and government, which they do now in the US, than that is real tyranny.

Private ownership is fine, as long as more than 1% of the people own a piece of the pie. In the USA, that's not the case where we have a cleptocracy or plutocracy of 1% of the population owning 80% of the country's wealth.

@TomJones...it is pretty sad that 3% of the US population pays 95% of all the taxes...

if the social democrats had not inflated the swedish well fare system for over 30 years by borrowing money, the picture would have looked different.

The SD totally screwed up the swedish economy from its unique position post WW2 by being one out of two economies (switzerland) in europe emerging with full industrial production and no disruptive strain on the economy trying to re-build the nation.

Remember swedish export blossomed during the war.

@hpunlimited

Cuba is not a socialist country, but a comunist country. If you want to live in a Neo liberal capitalist country controled by banks and corporation with no decent health or education, you can always move to the states....

@hpunlimited

It's incredible how while the whole world is trying to recover from a horrible recession that free market fundamentalists have brought on us, there are still people naive enough to follow neoliberal slogans such as "tyranny will always come from the government!"

Go to the US, where 20% of the population has no health insurance, just because people follow such rhetoric. A competent and capable government is crucial for democracy to exist. Sweden has always been an example that people all over the world looked up to. It's too bad that you want to change that.

We never know what happens in Politics its all under the table and too high for our understanding..

Swedish politician sold their soldiers in Afghanistan for something BIG

pssssttt: A deal with the cunning Devil USA....some fortune is behind all that

'We're a political party, but we can change . . . if we have to . . . we guess.

Dedicated to all the ex-pat Canucks.

@wabbit and Glam .. It clear the west is in trouble. Exactly the cause is not easy to say but probably blind following of free market policy is at least part of the blame. We must remember that most of the world is very poor and that might be the natural state.

The Swedish electorate abandoned the Social Democrats and if they want to remain relevant, they are going to have to introduce policies that the Greens and Communists would find intolerable. A split was inevitable, and useful. Those to the far left of the party, can switch to the Communists, those obsessed with climate change can switch to the Greens. The Social Democratic party will be significantly better off without them, and able to make the necessary changes to realign themselves Swedish electorate. All they have to do now is get rid of Mona, and find a charismatic leader untainted by association with the Communists and Greens, and they might actually have a chance in four years time.

Sweden went into decline about 1980 (certainly since about 1990) The Social Democrats appear to have gone more to the right since then (they failed to repair the damage that the previous right wing government did) and most western countries have appears to go more to the right as well; heading more towards the idea "free market". However that causes more social problems as inequalities rise. I would see this split in the red-greens as part of that long process towards the right.

Once the world envied Sweden and look to Sweden as a source of inspiration. But it appears to me that Sweden just emulate the US. As a result we should see a rise in poverty, crime, drug taking and other social problems. I wonder how bad things have to get before ppl here realise we have headed the wrong way?

Well just out of curiousity for anyone that might answer this question but what part of the left wing agenda have the Social Democrats actually acomplished in their very long reign in Sweden?

I mean when I came to Sweden everyone spoke of the many benefits of socialism, but all I ever saw was road blocks. Tryingto run a business in the current enviroment is a joke, its actually better to be unemployed. If that's how the social democrats want it then I have to agree with the right wing on this one.

Business, economy and a solid infastructure with security and liberty should be the priorities. I'm all for social benefits and curing the ailments of society but the cost has to be appropriate and the efforts succesful and as it stands after their long reign I don't really see where all the money and effort has gone.

Inequility especially for immigrants and women is considerably worse in Sweden then in more traditional capitalist societies like the US and while the crime rate is relativly low having lived in Sweden for 5 years now I can say without question a big part of the reason is that the numbers are fluffed as many crimes go unreported. Punishment here is outragously stupid, I could kill my wife and kids tomorrow and after staying in the luxaries hotels that are prisons in Sweden where I can get a free education I will be on the street in a matter of a few years with very elaborate benefits waiting for my reception. Its really quite traggic.

Sweden needs a shake up and while I consider myself a liberal the switch to some more moderate thinking is appropriate and it does not suprise me that Sweden like most of Europe is heading in this direction.

@Rishonim

most of them ARE MOVING OUT from sweden..cant force people something they dont like to do though..hmm

I just see alot of brain washing in many comments here.

Socialism is NOT the same as Communism (I live in a post communist country and my wife is from here) and I just don't understand why you always end up talking about Marx and freedom every time there are some news about Social Democrats. Social Democrats in almost every country where they exist are just as "capitalist" as many other parties. They just tend to want more taxes and give more social stuff than the right wing ones. Forget about Marx, Staling, Lenin and Co., that's an American brain wash from the cold war times, that happens to be usefull for the right wing parties now.... it's over, don't you get it? If the Social Democrats had won, SE wouldn't have a soviet system now with only goverment owned companies, NO... you would just pay more taxes and get more social benefits.

By the way (just for the record), I don't believe in freedom with either side ( either with the communist of course) as long as we keep using money as the base of our society.

IT's a good news for social democrats (of any party).

The problem was that the Left with its punitive agenda towards the middle classes was damaging the SDs prospects in urban areas. The greens' with their anti-growth, anti-industry, anti hunting was damaging the SDs prospects in the North.

The SD is primarily about equal opportunities and sensible redistribution of wealth. Both Left and Greens were against policies of wealth creation, that naturally isolated SD voters. The SD should go to the election at all, without having its programme diluted by these two other parties. If they win and wish to include them in government that can be negotiated later. Furthermore, if the SD becomes more serious and centre it can try and lure the centre-party or the liberals into a prospective coalition.

Shocking! who the f..k cares?

Two bad ideas,

does not,

a good plan make.

xquild:

I can tell you where the money goes, little by little:

-Every time you pass by a speed camera, ask this question.

-Every time you get a parking ticket, ask this question.

-Every time you pay huge amounts of money for insurance, ask this question.

-Every time you see and hear ideas for more government controll over the smallest things imaginable, ask.

-When you see Steel-wire fences by the E4...

We hear about alcometers and speed limiters installed in each car, we see and stuggle with a huge pile of bureaucracy, rules and regulations for every small detail of our lives. The average person is so much of a criminal to put one toe over the line, it becomes impossible to evade paying fines.

Small people are being watched by other small people up to a point you spend your days looking over your shoulder 24/7 to make sure there´s not a system guard behind your back to inform you of smallest offence.

We build up huge systems of bureaucracy that live just for their own sake, to give the system and people in it something to do. We have insitutions, schooling systems and a legistlation that together, little by little eats up everything. All the politicians can up with is MORE legistlation and MORE politics, political insititutions and image-campains.

That´s where the money goes. Very little is being produced, exept more rules, legistlation and bureaucratic limbos.

This, while those outside this organized society, this Shangri-la, wipe their behinds with each fine and drug-indictment.

This is the brave new world the EU brought us all, it´s all been decided behind our backs tens of years ago.